Overload Your Abs

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Originally uploaded by archer773

If you perform hanging leg raises at the gym, you know how challenging they already are. But how do you apply the overload principal to this ab exercise? The next training progression, according to Nick Nilsson, is the flexed-arm hanging leg raise.

"Instead of hanging down with your arms straight, do the hanging leg raise in the flexed-arm hang position," Nilsson explains in Flexed Arm Hanging Leg Raises to TRASH Your Abs ... in a GOOD Way. "This not only makes the exercise tougher, it has the added bonus of removing much of the tension from the lower back that can happen with the standard hanging leg raise."

To perform the exercise, grab a chin-up bar about shoulder-width, with your hands in an underhand curl grip. Pull yourself to the fully-flexed arm position and hold. Bend your knees and lift them towards your elbows. Hold at the top and lower down. That’s one rep.

"When you're doing the flexed arm hang, your abs are contracting isometrically to support the weight of your legs," Nilsson explains, adding that your abs are also contracting to support the tension of the arm hang. Plus, your abs get no rest at the bottom, which makes the exercise more difficult.

Why does this matter to you? Because the overload principal in weight lifting applies to your abs, too! Instead of doing hundreds of crunches, challenge your midsection by performing fewer reps of this more challenging exercise.